Conversation Partner Meeting #4

            This week, we received an email regarding a social held by IEP faculty and students. Needing to meet again with my conversation partner, I was ecstatic about the opportunity. Things got even better, though, when Dr. Williams offered extra credit to anyone who went. After that, my plans for Friday were finalized.

            The social ended up being even more fun than I thought it would be. From my class, I was one of the first students at the social. I quickly checked in with Dr. Williams, got my IEP shirt, and then started having a good time. I met up with my conversation partner Omar, and he introduced me to his friends. They were all from different countries, and all spoke very clear English. There was also a selection of food from different countries, though the majority of it was American. One thing I found interesting was that when pizza was brought in, there was a big deal made about whether or not there was pork in the pizza. It’s interesting to see how great a stir a food type can create in certain cultures. After everyone got their food, we all began to play games. People were playing Apples to Apples and other card games. After talking with my classmates and their conversation partners, I was soon roped into a game of spoons with about ten other people. I eventually lost about halfway through, but I had a great time. I was later talking with one of the faculty members, and we started talking about Omar. I found it interesting that she described him as a “reluctant leader.” I felt like it was fitting, and I really enjoyed watching Omar interact with the other IEP students. He was clearly one of the more popular guys, and he seemed to get along well with everyone.

            I eventually had to leave the social, but it was a great deal of fun. Seeing so many people come from all over the world to attend TCU made me so proud to call TCU my school. It also made me proud to be a student in Lit & Civ, as I actually got to meet the interesting people in the IEP. Interacting with Omar and the others is definitely one of the highlights of my college experience. I also learned how to play spoons, which was so much fun.